The Angel Hotel

THE ANGEL HOTEL in the town centre dates from the 18th century and was originally known as the Nag's Head but the name was changed around 1790. It is probably the oldest surviving hotel for guests in the town and was an important posting house during coaching days, Bourne being on one of the main routes from Lincoln and York to London and a daily coach service passed through, often making an overnight stop and usually picking up passengers.

There was also a mail coach and a wagon service for heavy goods and carriers also operated local services to surrounding towns. By 1857, an omnibus left the Angel Hotel every morning, except Sundays, at 8am to connect with the railway station at Tallington on the Great Northern line. The livery stables at the rear of the building were eventually incorporated into the main hotel and by 1900 it boasted fifteen bedrooms and a banqueting room that could accommodate 150 people.

The courtyard and outbuildings can still be seen together with an ostler's bell and there is a pattern of small gables across the coaching arch while outside on the main road, the town pump was strategically placed to provide for the needs of the coach horses which stopped here. The Angel was also registered as an Excise Office from 1808 onwards where makers of a wide range of goods were required to pay their necessary duties.

Today, it is a busy modern hotel incorporating a small shopping arcade known as the Angel Precinct, and a modern function room known as The Coachhouse.

A history of the Angel Hotel and some of its colourful landlords
can be found on the CD-ROM A Portrait of Bourne.

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